THIS BIRD FLYIN’ HIGH AGAIN
Patrick Bird Wins Charly Invitational
STUDIO CITY – Sometimes a win just isn’t a win. Just ask Patrick Bird, whose win at this year’s Charly Invitational gave him multiple reasons to celebrate. “Of all the tournaments this one has probably the most sentimental value to me for sure. It’s nice to win it and be able to share in the victory with Charly. I can always at least say I won one of the Charly Invitationals.” Bird overcame a 4-stroke deficit to Tim Joe with 3 holes to play, punctuating his round with a birdie on 9. The victory was his first since 2008, ending the Tour’s current longest winless streak at 33. Asked what the intervening years had been like since his last win, the Tour charter member let out a reflective sigh, “It’s been a long and painful road. It’s been a long time. My game has not been good, [my] head hasn’t been in it.” And, if sentimentality and ending a long drought weren’t enough, Bird’s round beat defending champion and 2012 Player of the Year Chris Moawad straight up. “I didn’t know that. That’s great. Well, you know usually that’s what happens on this Tour. It seems like the only way you can win a tournament is really by having one of the best days, you know, that you ever had. To beat someone like Moawad, head to head, that doesn’t happen very often.”
2013 CHARLY INVITATIONAL FINAL SCORES
| PLACE | GOLFER | SCORES | HANDICAP | BONUS | NET |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 2 T3 T3 5 6 7 | Bird T. Joe Moawad Frost Fidler Witt Crump | 35 38 36 38 41 43 49 | -9 -9 -6 -6* -9 -9 -9 | 0 0 0 2 0 0 3 | 26 29 30 30 32 34 37 |
* – Penalized 3 strokes for late check-in
QUICK CHIPS
Date change, a killer… Pushing the tournament back a week had a major impact. Exactly half the Tour missed this year’s tournament. Not since the 2009 Tour Championship in which 8 golfers comprised the field, had there been such a small showing… 1 tournament after setting a new Tour record, Armen Grigorian’s Tour record for consecutive tournaments played ended at 38… Good omen… The first of Patrick Bird’s 2 birdies came on his nemesis hole, the 105 yard 4th… Tweet-tweet… Perhaps fittingly, the only golfer with birdies was Patrick Bird. Tim Joe and John Frost led all with 3 pars… Bird’s gross-35 was just 1 stroke off his career best Charly round, established last year.